This patent is directed to a needleless connector, and, in particular, to a needleless connector with a slider moveable within the housing.
Needleless connectors have come into widespread use in intravenous (I.V.) administration sets. These needleless connectors replace more traditional technologies, where a needle is used to puncture an elastomeric diaphragm or septum. The use of needles and other pointed instruments presents hazards to the equipment, the patients and the healthcare personnel. For example, accidental needle sticks may permit infectious diseases to be transferred from the patient to the healthcare worker.
One particular form of the needleless connector is the T-site connector, which connector may also be used as a stopcock. The T-site connector has three legs: the patient (or catheter) leg, the flush reservoir leg, and the medication (or med)/sample port leg. Because a Luer lock or similar device is typically used with the med/sample port leg, this leg may also be referred to as the Luer-activated device (or LAD) leg.
Conventionally, when the med/sample port is accessed using a Luer to administer medication to the patient or to withdraw a blood (or other body fluid) sample, the med/sample port must be manually flushed using a syringe. This manual flushing occurs both before and after access to ensure that all unwanted material is removed from the connector. The manual flushing usually involves a multi-step process, passing several different fluids through the med/sample port. For example, according to one conventional administration therapy, the flush is performed with a sequence of saline, administer, saline and heparin, or S-A-S-H. An abbreviated form of the therapy is also known, using the sequence of saline, administer, and saline, or SAS. In the case of blood sampling, if the “clearing sample” or “discard sample” is re-infused (to minimize risk of “nosocomial anemia”), additional steps (manual connections by syringe) are required.
It will be recognized that this multi-step process has its challenges. For example, the process adds to the time demands (for obtaining or filling the flush syringes, swabbing the med/sample port, attaching the syringes, etc.) placed on the healthcare professional during his or her daily routine. Further, the SASH or SAS therapies are material-intensive as well, requiring the use of multiple flush syringes and fluids (saline, antibiotic and heparin). Moreover, any time the med/sample port is accessed, there is a risk of infection, however competent the healthcare professional or thorough the procedure followed. If the healthcare professional is distracted, the risks increase due to human error.
It will also be recognized that a need may exist to clear material from in-line needleless connectors as well. For example, certain in-line needless connectors have net negative displacement, wherein fluid from the patient will be drawn into the connector (reflux) after the Luer or other instrument has been removed from the connector (disconnect), where the material then remains. Other needleless connectors have been designed to have net positive displacement; the connector actually discharges fluid into the patient after the Luer has been disconnected. However, the net positive displacement is typically associated with a reflux of material into the connector upon attachment of the Luer to the connector. Where the infusion of fluids through the connector is a low flow rates, some of the material may be maintained in the connector, even if a positive displacement later occurs upon removal of the Luer.
As set forth in more detail below, the present disclosure sets forth an improved assembly embodying advantageous alternatives to the conventional devices and methods discussed above.